Penrose outlines UK online gambling policy reforms

Imminent changes to the UK’s online gambling regulations were foreshadowed last month and now the government has provided a little more detail on what those changes will be.

John Penrose, Minister responsible gambling policy at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (“DCMA”) told news agencies yesterday that licensing requirements would be tightened.

“It means anybody based anywhere in the world who wants to sell gambling services to any consumer based in the UK will, in future, have to have a Gambling Commission license.”

This is a big change from the current regulations that allow operators that are licensed outside the UK but in either a European Economic Area country or a jurisdiction on the Gambling Commission’s White List (Isle of Man, Alderney, Antigua, or Tasmania (Australia)) to market to their services to UK residents.

EEA and White List licenses will still be recognized in some regard.  Penrose said that businesses already regulated in, “trusted jurisdictions would have much lighter touch approach and, for example, will not have to duplicate regulatory work.”

Regulators in Alderney and Isle of Man have welcomed the promised lighter touch approach for White List regulated businesses. Alderney Gambling Control Commission’s André Wilsenach said it was, “good news for Alderney” and that the UK Gambling Commission had already provided them with assurances that their licensees would have a “fast track” to a UK license.

The lighter touch probably won’t extend to tax exemptions though.  It’s no secret that one of the key motivations for this policy change is the fact that the government believes, (probably rightly so) that offshore operators aren’t paying their fair share of tax on UK sourced gambling revenues. This was the flavour of a number of Penrose’s comments.

“The current system for regulating remote gambling doesn’t work…overseas operators get an unfair advantage over UK based companies…we will create a level playing field, so all overseas operators will be subject to the same standards and requirements”.